Barbour Foundation

The Barbour Foundation is a family-rooted grantmaker dedicated to advancing social welfare, relieving poverty and hardship, and fostering community development among disadvantaged populations in North East England's regional communities. Its core values emphasize place-based philanthropy, inclusivity, practical interventions, and sustainable quality-of-life improvements, driven by a commitment to addressing social exclusion, economic disadvantage, and vulnerability through targeted support for local organizations. Believing change arises from empowering community-led projects, medical advancements, and heritage preservation that build resilience and equity, it prioritizes partnerships with charities delivering measurable, grassroots impact via evidence-based, person-centered approaches.

It funds poverty relief initiatives tackling financial hardship and food insecurity for families in crisis, youth employment programs including skills training, mentoring, and employability support for young people aged 16-25 facing barriers to work, homelessness prevention and support services such as outreach, drop-in centres, and housing advocacy for homeless individuals, disability assistance for people with special needs, learning disabilities, physical disabilities, and complex health needs through organizations providing day services, peer support groups, and carer respite, medical research into chronic illnesses, childhood cancer, and cancer prevention including PhD studentships and research centres, provision of medical equipment enabling therapeutic interventions and independence, women and girls' wellbeing programs like peer support, counselling, and awards for women with disabilities addressing isolation and access barriers, and heritage restoration projects preserving cultural sites, architectural assets, and environmental landmarks to strengthen community identity and cohesion. Supported activities encompass community-led welfare projects, preventative early interventions, trauma-informed care, holistic family support, and innovative research driving long-term health outcomes.

Exclusions include grants to individuals, unrestricted funding, general education purposes, and capital building projects unrelated to heritage; it avoids national organizations lacking regional ties or duplicating services. Distinctive priorities favor North East communities with deep economic disadvantage, vulnerable groups like care leavers, isolated elderly, ethnic minorities in rural areas, women with disabilities, and youth at risk of exclusion, valuing charities with lived-experience leadership, evidence-based practice, and focus on holistic, inclusive solutions blending social, medical, and cultural restoration for enduring regional resilience.